Fruit or vegetable brusher.



No. 734,284. PATENTED JULY 21,1903. F. STEBLB'R. FRUIT on VEGETABLEBRUSHER.

APPLIGATIOK' FILED APR. 29, 1902.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

Nb MODEL.

m: mums PETERS comnomuwo wmuuomu. n g

No. 734,284. PATENTED JULY 21, 1903.

F. STEBLER. FRUIT 0R VEGETABLE BRUSHER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 29, 1902.

It) MODEL. .2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

m 1m I no. 734,284. I v

UNITED STATES PATENT Patented July 21,

OFFIC FRUIT ORVEGETABLE BRUSHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 734,284, dated July 21,1903.

Application filed April 29, 1902. Serial No. 105,208; (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRED STEBLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Riverside, in the county of Riverside and State ofCalifornia, have invented new and useful Improvements in FruitorVegetable Brush ers,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a machine for brushing and cleaning fruit orvegetables, and has for its object to provide amachine which may beadapted to operate upon various sizes of the same, also to provide amachine which after being adjusted to a certain size of fruit will brushand clean fruit which may vary somewhat from the regular graded sizebeing operated upon.

Another obj ect is to provide means for varying the speed at which thefruit is carried through the machine, and thereby accordingly regulatingthe amount of brushing given to the fruit. 1

Other objects, such as simplicity ,of.con struction and effectivenessand ease of operation, are attained by the construction hereinafterdescribed.

Figure I is a plan view. Fig. II is a side elevation, a portion beingbroken away. Fig. III is a section on line III III of Fig. I. Fig. IV isa view showing certain details in the construction of the carrying andadjusting mechanism. Fig. V is a detail of a portion of the belt-drivingmechanism. Figs. ,VI and VII are details of parts of clampingdevices.

.. 1 is a frame.

2 is a cylindrical brush rotatably mounted in stationary bearings 3 and4..

5 is a shaft mounted in stationary bearings 6 and 7. p

8 is a crank for rotating theshaft 5.

The brush 2 is driven from the shaft 5 through the medium of bevel-gears9 and 10.

11 is a support which is adjustably connected to the frame 1 byextensions 12 and 13. The extension 12 is provided with elongated slots14., through which bolts 15 pass to adjustably secure the extension 13to the frame 1. elongated slots 16, through which bolts 17 pass tosecure the extension 13 to the frame 1.

18 is apulley revolubly mounted on a plate 19. The plate 19 has a slot20, (see Fig. 1,) and a fastening-bolt 21 passes therethrough Theextension 13 is provided with v to hold the plate 19 in position on thesupport 11. i

22 is an angle-plate rigidly attached to the support 11. Passingthrough'the vertical extension of the angle-plate is an adjustingscrew23, by means of which the plate 19 may be moved longitudinally of thesupport 11.'

24 is a pulley mounted on a shaft 24., which is journaled in theextension 13.

25 is a shaft revolubly mounted in the frame 1 and slidable therein andcarrying a bevelgear 26, which meshes with a bevel-gear 27, carried bythe shaft 2st.

27 is a cone-sprocket carried by the shaft 25.

27 is a sprocket carried by the shaft 5.

A chain 27 connects the sprockets 27 and 27".

28 is an endless belt carried by the pulleys 18 and 24. Attachedto thebelt 28 are a series of brushes 29. The surface of each brush is curvedand the bristles gradually increase in length toward the l ower end ofthe brush. Referring to Fig. III, it will be seen that a substantially Vshaped trough like space is formed between the brush 2 and the brushes29. This space is relatively wide at the upperportion and graduallynarrows toward the bottom, so that different sizes of fruit may liebetween the brushes 29 and the brush 2.

This V-shaped opening or trough-like space has an open bottom, the brush35 merely filling part of the opening, and the dirt andother refusewhich is brushed from the fruit the cylindrical brush 2 is rotated andkeeps the fruit stirred up and constantly agitated,

thereby giving no chance for the dirt, grit, and other refuse to pack inand wedge in the bottom of the trough, and thus prevent the effectualcleaning of the fruit.

30 represents antifrictional rolls mounted between the supports 32% Therolls -30 are held in position to bear against the inside of the belt 28and hold the. belt from springing away from its position relative to thebrush 2. 31 represents brushes hinged, as shown at 32, to a support 33.The support 33 is rigidly secured to the support 11 by arms 34:. Thebrushes 31 may be suspended in such amannor that they are free toswin gvertically and may bear by gravity against the fruit."

35 is a stationary brush rigidly attached to the frame 1 and liesparallel with the brush 2 and adjacent the lower opening between thebrush 2 and the brushes 29.

36 represents rolls revolubly mounted on a support 37, which is carriedby the support 11.. The rolls 36 lie against and support the oppositelower edges of the belt 28 and serve to prevent the belt from sagging.

38 is a guide attached to a bracket 39 and against which the upper endof the brushes 2!) bear and slide. The bracket 39 is attached to andcarried by the arm 34. The guide 38 serves to guide and further hold thebrushes 29 from lateral play.

40 is an idle sprocket for takin g up the slack of the chain 27.

The operation of the machine is as follows: Fruit may be conducted intothe trough-like space formed between the curved brushes 29 and the brush2 from any suitable feedinghoppcr. (Not shown.) \Vhen the shaft 5 isrotated in the direction of the arrow, the brush 2 is revolved and alsothe pulley 24, which causes the belt 28 to be driven as indicated by thearrow and carry the brushes 29 along the side of the brush 2. As thebrush 2 rotates it brushes the fruit and tends to impart a rotativeelfect to each piece of fruit, thus bringing every part of the surfaceof the fruit into contact therewith. The brushes 20 frictionally bearagainst the fruit and serve to hold the fruit against the brush 2. Thecombined action of the brushes causes the fruit to revolve in variousdirections and also moves it along, and thus causes a thorough brushingand cleaning of every portion of the surface of the fruit, so that bythe time the fruit has traveled the entire length of the brush 2 it iscompletely cleaned. As the fruit moves along, the brushes 31 also bearby gravity against the fruit and serve to further brush and clean. Thestationary brush 35 serves to prevent under-sized fruit from droppingaway from the machine and also serves to brush any fruit that is smallenough to come in contact with it.

iVhen it is desired to clean fruit of substantially larger diameter, byloosening the bolts 15 and 17 the support 11 may be moved back from thebrush 2, thereby making a larger space between the brushes 29 and thebrush 2. Again, if smaller fruit is to be treated the support 11 may beadjusted closer to the brush 2.

It is evident that when the support 11 is moved the pulleys 18 and 24,belt 28, traveling brushes 29, and swinging brushes 31 are -moved,likewise the several antifrictional rolls, and also the guide 38. Thegears 26 and 27 and sprocket 2 are also moved; but the flexibility ofthe chain 27 C allows the variation in the relative positions ofsprockets 27 and 27 The speed at which the fruit is carried along may beregulated by placing the chain 27 upon the proper step of thecone-sprocket 27 hen it is desired to take up the slack of the belt 28,the bolt 21 may be loosened and the screw 23 turned the desired degree,after which the plate 19 may again be clamped to the support 11 bytightening the bolt 21.

It is obvious that many changes maybe made in the particularconstruction herein shown and described without departing from thespirit of the invention.

hat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is-

1. A cylindrical rotatable brush, means for forming a trough-like spacelongitudinally along one side only of said brush and for conveying fruitalong said brush in said space of which said brush forms one side andsaid means forms the other side, mechanism for propelling said meansalong said brush and for rotating said brush in a direction transverselyof the line of travel of said means.

2. A cylindrical rotatable brush, traveling brushes at one side only ofsaid cylindrical brush and forming a trough-like space next to thecylindrical brush,said travelingbrushes forming one side of thetrough-like space and the cylindrical brush forming the other wall,means for propelling said traveling brushes along said cylindrical brushand for rotating said cylindrical brush in a direction transverse] y ofthe travel of the traveling brushes.

A cylindrical rotatable brush, a series of concave traveling brushesadjacent said rotatable brush and forming a trough-like space next tosaid rotatable brush.

4. A cylindrical rotatable brush, a series of concave traveling brushesadjacent said cylindrical brush forming an open bottom trough-like spacenext to said brush and for moving fruit along said rotatable brush insaid space.

5. A cylindrical rotatable brush, a series of concave traveling brushesadjacent said rotatable brush forming an open-bottom troughlike spacenext to said rotatable brush, the length of the bristles of said brushesincreasing toward the lower ends of the brushes.

6. A cylindrical rotatable brush, a traveling brush adjacent saidrotatable brush forming a trough-like space with a contracted lowerportion next to said rotatable brush, and means for regulating the sizeof said trough-like space.

7. A cylindrical rotatable brush, aseries of concave traveling brushesadjacent said rotatable brush and forming a trough-like space with acontracted lower portion next to said rotatable brush, and means forregulating the size of said trough-like space.

8. A cylindrical. brush, a traveling brush adjacent thereto and having acurved face, the lower portion of the face being nearer the cylindricalbrush than the upper portion of the face, and means to rotate saidcylindrical brush and move said traveling brush along said cylindricalbrush.

9. A cylindrical brush, a traveling brush adjacent thereto and having acurved face, the lower portion of the face being nearer the cylindricalbrush than the upper portion of the face, a stationary brush lyingadjacent the opening between the lower portion of said cylindrical brushand the lower end of said traveling brush, and means to rotate saidcylindrical brush and move said traveling brush along said cylindricalbrush.

10. A cylindrical brush, a traveling brush adjacent thereto and having acurved face the lower portion of the face being nearer the cylindricalbrush than the upper portion of the face, a vertically-movable brushsuspended between said cylindrical brush and said traveling brush, andmeans to rotate said cylindrical brush and move said traveling brushalong said cylindrical brush.

11. A cylindrical brush, a traveling brush adjacent thereto and having acurved face,

the lower portion of the face being nearer the cylindricalbrush than theupperportion of the face, a vertically-movable brush suspended betweensaid cylindrical brush and said traveling brush, a stationary brushlying adjacent the opening betweenthe lower portion'of said cylindricalbrush and the lower end of said traveling brush, and means to rotatesaid cylindrical brush and move said traveling brush along saidcylindrical brush.

12. A cylindrical brush, means to rotate said brush, a series 'oftraveling brushes, means to move said traveling brushes longitudinallyalong said cylindrical brush, the space between said traveling brushesand said cylindrical brush being relatively narrow at

